An upcoming virtual reality video game called Space Rift released a behind the scenes video today that detailed several new features of the game while also making some fairly aggressive statements about its competitors.
Vibrant Core is the German studio behind Space Rift and in the below video some of its top brass wax poetically about their creation. On the surface, Space Rift seems like yet another entry in the already popular cockpit shooter VR gaming genre. However, Vibrant Core’s project director, Gihad Chbib, explains that there is apparently much more to this game than meets the eye.
Chbib’s primary praise for his title is its focus on narrative and character development over simple combat and basic missions.
“You would expect a space game to just be a shoot ’em up with the player having to complete the missions one after the other without any story. But, for us it’s more of a game where you play through a linear plot that has action sequences now and again,” Chbib states.
This “linear plot” is broken down into differentiated space sectors which serve as the game’s levels and the overall experience is given more depth thanks to what Chbib believes to be a truly engaging cast of characters:
“There are around 12,000 words of dialogue for our distinct, developed characters — each with their own biography and a story with a beginning and and end.”
Fans of popular sci-fi TV shows and other game franchises series will probably need to wipe the drool from their respective laps after reading that last statement. Vibrant Core certainly seems to be aiming for a game with a high level of depth, and Chbib himself has some harsh words for studios that fall short of such a goal.
“What I really didn’t like about the first VR phase was that there were a lot of prototypes but no full-scale gaming experiences,” Chbib said. “We also didn’t want the first thing we developed to be an arcade game or a small game consisting of a simple game mechanic, we wanted to build a real gaming experience.”
In order to make Space Rift a “real” game, the team at Vibrant Core is focusing on three key gameplay elements: combat, exploration, and mining. Time will tell if these three pillars, along with an emphasis on character and narrative, will be enough to elevate Space Rift to the heights that its studio is aiming for.
Space Rift releases in “Summer 2016” on PC and Samsung Gear VR, with a PlayStation VR release planned for later this Fall.
